oleocene.org

Hydraulic tests completed at Turkey's Akkuyu 1

Friday, 9 October 2026

Hydraulic tests to check the primary circuit systems and equipment at unit 1 of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant have been successfully completed, paving the way for hot functional tests to begin.


(Image: Rosatom)

.......................

Akkuyu 1 set for next stage of pre-commissioning activities

Monday, 21 September 2026

The first unit at Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is being prepared for the reactor's next stage of pre-start-up testing.


Alexei Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, said during a visit to the site that the aim was to obtain a licence and "begin launch operations by the end of the year", according to in-house publication Strana Rosatom.

It also reported that he said the control room "already matches that of an operating plant, not one under construction".

Meanwhile the unit's Automated Process Control System (APCS) is also being prepared for pre-commissioning and adjustment works to proceed. In total the APCS at the first unit "consists of more than 42,000 components manufactured in accordance with the requirements for seismic resistance to ensure safe operation of the plant in any conditions", Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant said.

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC CEO Sergei Butckikh, said: "Reaching the stage of preparing the system for pre-commissioning and adjustment operations is the result of the coordinated efforts of a large number of specialists from various fields: installers, adjusters, and engineers."

Cold hydraulic tests, which began in June following the loading of dummy fuel, confirm the "tightness and strength of the reactor system components, perform circulation flushing of the primary and secondary circuits, establish water chemistry, and check the thermal-hydraulic, strength, vibration, and dynamic characteristics of the reactor system and primary circuit equipment for compliance with design values".

These are followed by the hot tests to confirm that equipment and systems are ready for operating conditions, including checking the operation of the four main circulation pumps at temperatures of at least 260 degrees Celsius. Both cold and hot tests take place before the loading of nuclear fuel in the commissioning process.

Cold hydraulic tests under way at Turkey's Akkuyu 1

23 June 2026

Construction of Turkey's first new nuclear power unit has been completed and cold-hot testing - a key part of the commissioning process - has begun, Rosatom has said.


(Image: Rosatom)

Alexei Likhachev, director general of Russia's state nuclear corporation, visited the site on Monday (see picture above) to review the progress of commissioning work. The visit came the week after the successful loading of dummy fuel assemblies into the reactor.

He said: "We are celebrating the completion of construction work. Cold hydraulic tests of the reactor began last night, and this work will be completed within a few weeks. Just a few weeks remain until the start-up operations begin, and based on the results of all the work completed, an inspection will be conducted and adjustments will be made for the final stage. Unit 1 has a staff of 1,930 people, more than 40% of whom are Turkish citizens. We are proud that these are graduates of our universities, who are now undergoing training and practical experience on Russian simulators and nuclear power plants."

The cold hydraulic tests confirm the "the tightness and strength of the reactor system components, perform circulation flushing of the primary and secondary circuits, establish water chemistry, and check the thermal-hydraulic, strength, vibration, and dynamic characteristics of the reactor system and primary circuit equipment for compliance with design values".

This will be followed by the hot tests to confirm that equipment and systems are ready for operating conditions, including checking the operation of the four main circulation pumps at temperatures of at least 260 degrees Celsius. Both cold and hot tests take place before the loading of nuclear fuel in the commissioning process.

Final steam generators delivered for Akkuyu

3 June 2026

The arrival of the set of four steam generators for the fourth unit at Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant completes the delivery of key reactor hall equipment.

Final steam generators delivered for Akkuyu


(Image: Rosatom)

The steam generators - which are about 14 metres long and have a diameter of 4 metres - were manufactured at the Atommash plant in Volgodonsk, which part of Rosatom’s machine-building division.

The 340-tonne steam generators were delivered via a 3,000-kilometre journey by sea.
.........................

L'entreprise russe Rosatom discute avec des entreprises turques de la participation à la centrale nucléaire d'Akkuyu

Reuters •21/04/2026

L'entreprise nucléaire russe Rosatom a entamé des pourparlers avec des entreprises turques en vue d'une co-propriété de la première centrale nucléaire turque, après que la guerre en Iran a stimulé l'intérêt pour ce type d'actifs.

Le projet turc de centrale nucléaire d'Akkuyu, d'une capacité de 4,8 gigawatts et d'un coût supérieur à 20 milliards de dollars, est financé par la Russie et Rosatom, son unique propriétaire, peut s'associer à un partenaire à hauteur de 49 % afin de partager l'investissement.

"Nous avons entamé des discussions de fond avec un certain nombre d'entreprises turques sur les paramètres de participation au capital social", a déclaré Alexey Likhachev, chef de Rosatom.

"Les entreprises turques sont actuellement très intéressées par une participation au capital de ce projet", a-t-il ajouté.

La recherche par Rosatom d'un co-investisseur dans Akkuyu a jusqu'à présent été infructueuse. Un consortium turc qui avait accepté de rejoindre le projet s'est effondré en 2018 et aucun nouveau candidat n'a émergé.

Likhachev a déclaré que les discussions sur l'acquisition d'une participation dans Akkuyu par des investisseurs turcs se sont intensifiées dans le contexte de la guerre en Iran, qui a mis en évidence la fragilité de l'équilibre énergétique mondial.

"Les événements survenus dans le golfe Persique, dans le détroit d'Ormuz, obligent une fois de plus les pays à revenir à la nécessité de disposer de sources d'électricité puissantes et fiables qui leur appartiennent et qui se trouvent sur leur propre territoire", a déclaré Likhachev.

Moscou et Ankara ont signé un accord en 2010 pour construire une centrale nucléaire avec quatre réacteurs russes VVER-1200, mais le projet a connu des retards répétés et des obstacles bureaucratiques.

Rosatom a commencé la construction de la centrale en 2018. La date de mise en service a été repoussée à plusieurs reprises par rapport à la date initialement prévue de 2023 et est maintenant attendue à la fin de 2026.

Après l'intervention militaire de Moscou en Ukraine en 2022, la pression sur le projet s'est accrue. Bien que Rosatom n'ait pas été visé par les sanctions occidentales, les risques liés aux paiements et à d'autres questions demeurent. Quelque 2 milliards de dollars de paiements sont bloqués sur un compte bancaire de JPMorgan, bien qu'Ankara ait déclaré qu'elle jouait un rôle de médiateur dans les efforts visant à les débloquer.

Likhachev a déclaré que tous les problèmes liés à Akkuyu avaient été résolus.

In Pictures: Akkuyu 2's polar crane installed

Monday, 30 March 2026

The main part of the polar crane for unit 2 at Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant been installed in position, at a height of 38.5 metres using a heavy-duty self-propelled crawler crane.


The Akkuyu plant will feature four units (Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)

The 282-tonne bridge is part of the polar crane, a circular overhead crane which is mounted under the reactor building's inner containment dome. Its circular design means that it can transport heavy items within the reactor building.


(Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)

..........................

Akkuyu 2's turbine generator stator installed

Monday, 12 January 2026

The 437-tonne turbine generator stator was moved on a special track before being lifted into place in the turbine hall of unit 2 at Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.


In the turbine hall ?(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

...............................

La première tranche de la centrale nucléaire d'Akkuyu est terminée

26/09/2025,

Les travaux majeurs de la première unité de la centrale nucléaire d’Akkuyu, située dans la province de Mersin, sont désormais achevés. Selon Anton Dedusenko, président du conseil d’administration de la société Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, les systèmes et composants sont actuellement testés pour garantir leur conformité aux standards internationaux.

Lors de la Semaine atomique mondiale à Moscou, Dedusenko a précisé que les quatre réacteurs du site étaient construits simultanément. La priorité actuelle est la mise en service du premier réacteur, désormais en phase de pré-mise en service, impliquant une batterie de tests complets.

Le responsable a souligné que les infrastructures hydrauliques et électriques essentielles à l’alimentation des réacteurs sont presque terminées. Ces installations, véritables "systèmes nerveux" de la centrale, devraient être pleinement opérationnelles d’ici la fin 2025.
Vers la fourniture du premier kilowatt atomique turc
La mise en service d’une unité nucléaire suit un protocole strict et progressif. "Les systèmes et composants sont contrôlés pour garantir leur conformité aux critères de sûreté nucléaire", a indiqué Dedusenko. Ces étapes visent à assurer un fonctionnement fiable et sécurisé pour plusieurs décennies.

Le premier kilowatt atomique pourrait être injecté dans le réseau national turc dès 2025. Les retards précédents, liés à des livraisons d’équipements électriques en provenance de Chine, ont été surmontés, permettant à l’équipe de maintenir le calendrier global du projet.

Cette avancée conforte la Türkiye dans sa volonté d’assurer une indépendance énergétique durable tout en confirmant sa place dans le cercle restreint des puissances nucléaires mondiales.

Les entreprises turques émergent sur la scène nucléaire mondiale
Au-delà de l’ingénierie, le projet Akkuyu représente un tremplin pour les entreprises turques. D’après Dedusenko, la part de localisation, initialement estimée à 4 milliards de dollars, atteint désormais 11 milliards, incluant les retombées fiscales versées à la Türkiye.

Environ 2 000 entreprises locales participent au projet, fournissant matériaux, équipements et services. Plusieurs d’entre elles, après avoir modernisé leurs processus pour répondre aux exigences nucléaires, exportent désormais leur savoir-faire.

Türkiye’s Akkuyu Nuclear Plant nears commissioning of first reactor, eyes 2026 start
.................
Next steps in Akkuyu: fuel loading, power generation
Butckikh explained that the next phase will involve verifying the operation of certain equipment units and safety systems before moving forward with fuel loading.

"After verifying the operation of certain equipment units and safety systems, we will proceed with loading fresh nuclear fuel, physically starting up the plant, and reaching the minimum controllable power level," he said.

He added that once the reactor reaches nominal power, the turbine will be activated, operating modes will be tested, and the plant will transition into commercial electricity production.

Final assembly under way for Akkuyu 4’s reactor vessel

Friday, 22 August 2025

Fabrication of the control assembly for the reactor vessel has begun for the fourth unit at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey. Rosatom said it will be the 250th nuclear reactor manufactured in Russia.
...........................

Turbine installed at Turkey's Akkuyu unit 1

17 December 2024

Turbine installation has been completed at the first unit of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant, paving the way for pre-launch tests and then cold-hot testing of the reactor unit.



(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

The past year has seen all the main equipment installed in the reactor and preparations for pre-launch tests with dummy nuclear fuel are under way. Last month concreting of the outer containment dome was completed.

Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, said: "We need nuclear energy to meet Turkey’s growing energy demand and achieve the goal of zero emissions by 2053. The Akkuyu NPP project is one of the largest projects in our country ... Turkey and Russia are working on this project as a single team with all stakeholders."

Alexey Likhachev, director general of Rosatom, said: "2024 has become a year of not only serious challenges but also great achievements for the Akkuyu NPP. We have witnessed one of the key events at the site - the completion of the turbine installation. This is a necessary step on the long road to launching the power unit. We will continue to make every effort to ensure that the first nuclear power unit starts operating in Turkey in the near future. It will provide millions of consumers with stable low-carbon energy."

In a report on the event, Russia's Tass news agency quoted Likhachev as saying that the progress on the turbine for the first unit at Akkuyu had been achieved despite problems caused by the impact of sanctions on supplier agreements with Germany's Siemens. This had led to a change in the supply chain: "We leveraged our competitive advantage because no other organisation has the experience we do in integrating elements of international projects ... we turned to our Chinese friends, who extended a helping hand to us," Tass reported Likhachev as saying.

The background

Akkuyu, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. According to the terms of the 2010 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, the commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant must take place within seven years from receipt of all permits for the construction of the unit.

The licence for the construction of the first unit was issued in 2018, with construction work beginning that year. Nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in April 2023. Turkey's Nuclear Regulatory Agency issued permission for the first unit to be commissioned in December, and in February it was announced that the reactor compartment had been prepared for controlled assembly of the reactor - and the generator stator had also been installed in its pre-design position.

The aim is for unit 1 to begin supplying Turkey's energy system in 2025. When the 4800 MWe plant is completed, it is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.

Concreting completed for the containment dome of Akkuyu unit 1

12 November 2024

Concreting of the outer containment dome of the first unit at Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant took 104 days, with 3511 cubic metres of high-strength self-compacting concrete mix poured.



Two tower cranes, six concreting booms and 34 mixer trucks were used during the work on the first of the four VVER-1200 units being constructed at the site.

The metal dome for the building was lifted into place in two stages in August and September.

Following the concreting, the dome has a thickness of 1.5 metres.
.....................................

Akkuyu 1 outer containment dome takes shape

22 August 2024

The installation in the design position of the lower part of the outer containment dome has been completed at unit 1 of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant.



The lower part of the outer dome in place (Image: Akkuyu NPP)

The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, will eventually comprise four Russian-supplied VVER-1200 reactors, which are equipped with a system of double (inner and outer) containments.

In June 2023, the concreting of the inner containment dome was completed at Akkuyu unit 1. In total, more than 3200 cubic metres was poured, with 422 tonnes of rebars installed and the completed walls are 1.2 metres thick. The inner containment ensures leak-tightness of the reactor building, and acts as a support for pipelines and the polar crane which will be used for nuclear reactor maintenance operations.

........................

In Pictures: Akkuyu 3 gets fifth tier of inner containment building
The top section of the cylindrical part of the inner containment building for the third unit at Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant has been installed in place.

16 August 2024


(Image: Rosatom)

The ring-shaped section consists of 12 reinforced concrete blocks and weighs 396 tonnes and measures 6.5 metres high.

The blocks were the first part welded together into a ring structure weighing about 115 tonnes before special consoles were welded on and a circular rail track installed for the circular overhead crane for the reactor building. It was then moved by crawler crane to the site for the installation.


(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

Sergei Butckikh, CEO of Akkuyu Nuclear, said: "The installation of the consoles to which the rail track of the polar crane is attached is usually performed ... after the installation of the tier. With a view of optimising the deadlines of further construction and installation works, we decided to mount the consoles when the tier was still on the ground, and then to mount the already assembled structure in the design position. Russian and Turkish specialists - installers, crane operators, slingers - once again demonstrated the highest level of professional skill and successfully installed a multi-tonnes structure."

The background

Akkuyu, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. According to the terms of the 2010 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, the commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant must take place within seven years from receipt of all permits for the construction of the unit.


The four unit plant will be Turkey's first (Image: Akkuyu NPP)

The licence for the construction of the first unit was issued in 2018, with construction work beginning that year. Nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in April 2023. Turkey's Nuclear Regulatory Agency issued permission for the first unit to be commissioned in December, and in February it was announced that the reactor compartment had been prepared for controlled assembly of the reactor - and the generator stator had also been installed in its pre-design position.

The aim is for unit 1 to begin supplying Turkey's energy system in 2025. When the 4800 MWe plant is completed it is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.

Akkuyu 3 reactor pressure vessel delivered

09 November 2023

The 350-tonne reactor pressure vessel for Akkuyu unit 3 in Turkey has been delivered after a 1700-mile journey.



The cylindrical reactor pressure vessel is 11.45 metres long and 5.7 metres wide and was produced by the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies JSC of Atommash, part of Atomenergomash, the machine production division of Rosatom.

The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the first unit began in 2018. The 4800 MWe plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.

The RPVs of units 1 and 2 were installed in June 2021 and September 2022, respectively. The RPV for unit 3 is a record fifth shipped from the production site in 2023.

Sergei Butckikh, First Deputy CEO of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, said: "After the completion of mandatory incoming control procedures the reactor pressure vessel shall be handed over for erection. Approximately 300 different checks and control operations are made during its manufacture. This equipment operates in special conditions. It should provide leak tightness of the reactor during operation, safe refuelling and operation of the reactor plant for more than 60 year life."